ABOUT THIS SITE

IN ENGLISH, "OUR FAMILY".

THESE PAGES CHRONICLE MY CONTINUING FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH. ASIDE FROM DOCUMENTING MY FILIPINO ANCESTRY, I ALSO HOPE TO CREATE FITTING BIOGRAPHIES FOR THE MANY INCREDIBLE PEOPLE IN OUR FAMILY TREE AND TO REVISIT PLACES THAT WERE ONCE CALLED HOME. THE INSPIRATIONS AND DISCOVERIES ON MY PATH TO BECOMING THE BEST FILIPINO GENEALOGIST I CAN BE, WILL FIND THEIR WAY HERE.

52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History, created by Amy Coffin, was a series of weekly blogging prompts, which ran in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, GeneaBloggers is leading the fun. Genealogists are invited to record memories and insights about their own lives for future descendants. Here are mine:

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i know our family has dispersed to many places — marikina, quezon city, manila, cavite, etcetera. through diligent research, we have discovered that our earliest known roots began in Bulacan. who knows, perhaps they came from somewhere else. i did a dna test on my mom’s side of the family and the results tell me that it is possible the family (30-50 generations back) migrated from china. fascinating, right?!

Hi, Rixie. Do you attend the San Diego clan reunion every February? My family used to attend that reunion during the 90s. Some of the attendees are from Marikina; Quezon, City; Bulacan, Obando and Pandi, Bulacan; Morong, Rizal. By the way, I’m from Pandi.

Hi, Ms. Mona. Good day! During a San Diego clan reunion in the 90s, someone from the clan read a research document which states that seven San Diego brothers came to the Philippines from Spain and dispersed to many places…if only we can get hold of that document, then that would be easier. I’ve been wanting to trace my roots for a long time. Good luck to us :)

Don’t know if you can guide me or not. I have a distant ancestor in one of my family trees named Marshall Coleman that was born 16 Dec 1894 in Flushing, NY to William J. Coleman. When he grew up he worked for Standard Oil Company. He was sent to many places including China where he married Marjorie Henderson Knott (from England)on the 27th of May 1921 in a Dutch Reformed Church in Shanghai. I then pick him up in an article written in the NY Times in 1934 listed as part of his father’s estate along with children William, Barbara and Patricia Coleman. The last entry I have for him is a newspaper article of March of 1945 included in a list of nine individuals freed in the Philippines. His wife and children were not among those listed.
He is not buried with his parents and sister in Flushing. I am not sure if he stayed in the US or went back to the Philippines. Any advice or help would be appreciated.

Hi! Given your reference to being “freed” in March 1945, he was probably incarcerated in a Japanese camp. The biggest one was the University of Santo Tomas; but that camp was liberated in February. He might have been in the provincial ones if his release took an extra month. Volumes have been written about American POWs in WWII — might I suggest you look at those books for a hint of what happened to Marshall after the war?

Thanks for the suggestion. Are there any death records that are easily accessible for that time period? How were burials handled during that time period given the non stable condition of the country during WWII. Did records even survive the war?

Mona,
I think that I have a lead on my Marshall Coleman’s death. On the familysearch.org site I found a reference to a death 18 April 1946 in Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines.
Where do you think the highest probability for him to have been buried? Do the death records of Manila usually list the place of burial?
Thanks.
Joan

Hi Joan. Death certifs would have burial location. Unfortunately, Manila has several cemeteries as it is so densely populated, even in the 1940s. You would want to hope that he is resting in a private plot though, not a municipal cemetery. Happy hunting!

La Loma Catholic Cemetery is one of the oldest and spans several hectares. Marshall is probably still there; but finding him might be a challenge, as the office does not keep records from that far back. I was there in January 2012 looking for a woman who died in the 1960s; and they were not able to help me. I believe there is a section owned by the Elizalde’s though — perhaps he is nearby. Here is a Google Map location of the cemetery: http://bit.ly/IioqtP:) Happy sleuthing!

Mona,
My goodness–Thank you so much. I really think that this my person. If I were to write to this cemetery do you think that they would answer?
I got this address off of google maps. I am not familiar with the address system in the Philippines. Does this look like the correct address? La Loma Catholic Cemetery @14.63732,120.9831
You are probably smiling thinking this person is nutty but I have never done genealogy in your country before :)
If the cemetery does give me an answer and a hint of where he might be buried, do you know of a good/ honest genealogist that would charge a fair price to take a picture of his headstone?
Joan

Hi Ms Mona. I am quite impressed by your scholarly
research on the Litton family. Can we meet ? I am Jojo Gallego, 55 years old. My mother is a Litton. I look forward hearing from you. thank you kindly.

Keywords “Candelaria” and “Anderson” raised my curiosity. My grandfather, Major Demetrio Montero Carino, AFP WWII (1914-2005) left his biographical journal including his World War II accounts. He had very fond memories of his half sister, Dona Candelaria Carino Anderson, who helped him obtain his college degree in Manila and become a military officer for the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the United States.

My birth certificate shows that they were both born in Malabon, Rizal although there had been family reports that my father was actually born in Aklan Visayas were there is a huge number of Panado clan. In fact, I even heard that one town is full of Panados and they have an annual reunion event.

My father’s parents are: Jacinto Panado and Paula Samson Bautista. Iassume that if it is true that my father was actually born in Aklan (and not Malabon, Rizal) then his parents were born & married there as well.

Hi Alex. You are on the right track! Filipino records on familysearch.org are not indexed so you would have to go through the collections and look for the place/date that interests you. a manual search for the meantime …